Natalia

And history is yet again repeated. I cannot help myself commenting as I'm in the middle of re-reading Ivor Guest's bio of Romantic-era ballerina Fanny Cerrito, which so vividly recounts the enthusiasm among Les Cerritoists et les Elsslerists. We need worry only when the enthusiasm wanes for any of our modern dancers...when les Copelandists and Les Abreraists at ABT stop writing about these ladies. This inspires me to begin a new fun thread on "Who would YOU cast as the four ballerinas if, say, Ratmansky would create a modern equivalent of Perrot/Pugni's 1845 Grand Pas de Quatre that starred Taglioni, Elssler, Cerrito and Grahan?" I'll start the thread separately later today. Begin to think of who you consider to be today's four great ballerinas, worthy of casting in a 21st-c Pas de Quatre.

We all seem to have missed this one, three months ago. RIP Marta Becket, a unique ballerina, performance artist, and muralist who took ballet to Death Valley, CA, performing classical ballet miniatures every night for almost 50 years, at her Amargosa Opera House: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/marta-becket-dancer-in-the-desert-dies-at-92/2017/02/02/f5570944-e96b-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html?utm_term=.50e6c8c45491 During our 1999 two-month driving adventure throughout California, my late first husband & I made a point of visiting Death Valley Junction just to see this amazing lady in performance...still on pointe well into her 70s, swishing her gorgeous tulle tutus. It may have been one of the simplest ballet performances, yet one of the most radiantly emotional ones I've witnessed. RIP, Marta Becket. She took ballet to the Mojave Desert, spreading the joy of the Art of Ballet in the most unlikely locale. One of her best-known solos, performed by a friend and follower: Trailer for the Emmy award-winning & Oscar-nominated docum on Ms Becket (AMARGOSA -2000): Finally, a very nice tribute, filmed just one year before her passing:

The company already numbered in the 50s (including apprentices) during its heyday of the Ashton Festival in 2014 (just checked my souvenir playbill). To me, it was amazing - too good to be true - to have such a large company dancing quality works by Ashton & Tudor when larger cities had much smaller companies doling out "easy-to-sell" fare like Alices and Draculas. I had assumed that this "miracle" was due to an exceedingly wealthy/generous population, with older demographics. The announcement about the cuts now explains certain earlier admin decisions, subtle (or not) changes in rep, etc. When I heard about the unionization I thought, "Ah, ok. Here comes the end of Camelot." Not that I'm against artists being fairly compensated...but I had assumed that all of the great achievements of the past 10 years had happened with already-unionized dancers. Sigh.

This pretty much explains the changes in focus and repertoire, including the mid-season cancellation of the APPARITIONS recon. Even if not clearly stated, one can read between the lines. The Webb Vision was great while it lasted. Sigh.

Thank YOU, Buddy, for praising favorite dancers. I wish that more people would be so fascinated with specific dancers, so that our art would flourish. I still remember the era of Nureyev, Makarova & Baryshnikov. "Misty Mania" doesn't have quite the same effect in building interest in the art of ballet, in general. Shall we add "Olga Mania" and "Polunin Mania" to the mix?

El Cheapo struck again at THE FAIRY's HISS. It's the weak production values, not just the fabrics, although the fabrics are certainly important. Balanchine & Karinska knew the power of fabrics' textures and colors, e.g., the blue SERENADE dresses can vary greatly from company to company, even though at first glance they appear to be alike. Nylon doesn't "swish" or move like tulle. Thanks for the NYTimes review link, abatt. Sounds like a poignant work.

Just like other Ratmansky dinners, such as the recent one in Miami, FAIRY's HISS.

Don't get too excited yet. It's "Ashton & Tudor" because, for now, it contains Tudor's LEAVES and Ashton's MARGUERITE. The 3rd ballet could be by anyone; hopefully yet another Ashton?

Thanks for all of these insights. So this is in the collection of Ratmansky's "Late-Soviet/post-Soviet Musings" as in the Shostakovich Trilogy. Not in the carefree/happy/silly mode of NAMOUNA, WHIPPED CREAM, HUMPBACKED HORSE and PSYCHE. (Gee, one cannot accuse Ratmansky of boringly sticking to one style!) I believe that I've seen almost all of his ballets, beginning with pieces for Ananiashvili in the late 90s. I've literally traveled the globe in pursuit of them...although they pursued ME in the beginning. It's killing me to have to wait one month to see this latest one here in DC...but now I have something great to look forward. Tick tock, tick tock.

Buddy - Ballet Alert's own Theophile Gautier for the 21st Century! By the way, I highly recommend the following book by my own King of Ballet Historians, Ivor Guest, on Gautier. It's my latest acquisition from amazon. com & it's keeping me very happy on a rainy day home. There's a lot of "Buddy Style" admiration of dancers here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1906830339/ref=ya_st_dp_summary Of course I, too, admire Smirnova. We're so lucky that she's been featured on many of the recent Bolshoi cinemascasts. Not just that spectacular BEAUTY, but HERO, SHREW, ETUDES, DIAMONDS, etc.

Scheduling or perhaps Budgeting problems, Birdsall? Or policy/change of focus? Not so much "All Ashton Rarities, All the Time" as in years past. Maybe it's cheaper to stage well-know Ashtons, like THE DREAM, which can be rented more economically from other US companies that already have it in their rep? yet... I just realized that only two ballets in the final triple bill for next season (April 2018) were announced. So there's a tiny glimmer of hope that they're leaving the spot open for a possible reinstatement of APPARITIONS, if budget or other conditions allow?

Was the premiere of Ratmansky's ODESSA last night? The regular (post-premiere) performances are this weekend (Sat/Sun).

Yes...but do you like her, Buddy?

No rescheduling of the reconstruction of Ashton's APPARITIONS, which was removed from the April 2017 bill? Boo! So much for a trip to Sarasota next season.

Thanks for this, Amy. "Tacky" is the word for the designs of the Munich PAQUITA (day-glo gypsy dresses! Jumbo columns in the ballroom! White polyester/shiny sateen tutus!). I can't blame Zelensky for retiring the production but he should consider reinstating it with better designs, maybe renting the POB sets & costumes for a season? Don't throw the baby out with the bath water! i would also love to see Ratmansky's SLEEPING BEAUTY performed in the Mariinsky's 1999 reconstruction designs, if only just once in my life. The perfect staging in the perfect designs...sigh. One more wish: to see Ekaterinburg's FILLE MAL GARDEE recon by Vikharev in Tsarist-era designs, rather than the "Van Gogh" sets/costumes.

Hungarian Gypsy Airs, please! Surely it has not been lost. Von Aroldingen owns the rights, I believe.

We'll be getting this in DC next month, as well as the newest Peck. Yeah!

SCFTA got the premiere of WHIPPED CREAM in March 2017 in addition to NUT three months earlier.

Here: This includes brief glimpse at Hallberg & Murphy rehearsing GISELLE...and waltz of the Whipped Cream ladies in performance!

I am guessing and hoping that Segerstrom will continue its tradition of premiering major ABT productions ahead of the Met season. Hence, OC-Segerstrom may be waiting to hear from ABT on its plans?

When K. Sergeyev staged Swan Lake in the early 50s, he preserved Vaganova's recent - now iconic - portions of the first lakeside scene, such as the double-row of swans for Odette's entrance at the end of the swans' entree. So we can thank him for the existence of some glorious passages by a number of post-Petipa choreographers. But the closest SWAN LAKE to Petipa/Ivanov in existence - the one that I'd use to honor Petipa on his 200th b'day - is unquestionably the Zurich Ballet's 2016 recon by Ratmansky. The real deal. (The Royal Ballet had the closest to it, thanks to Wylie's research for the 1980s Dowell staging, but that one is sadly being put to rest. I wonder if Liam Scarlett will keep the Wylie portions? Or will it turn out to be the ANTI-Petipa, anti-birthday non-tribute to Petipa?)

Thanks, mnacenani. Another now-famous individual, Christopher Wheeldon, had a bit role in the early-90s Mukhamedov recording.

Edward Watson's Prince Rudolf was filmed for DVD during an earlier run, as JMcN may be aware: https://www.amazon.com/Mayerling-Liszt/dp/B003757W0G/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1493658763&sr=1-1&keywords=Mayerling+ballet

Yet, for all of Yacobson's flapping about correctness in historical ballets, he gave us of version of Fokine's DYING SWAN/THE SWAN with a black tutu and very different steps. But I digress...back to the Petipa 200th.

I'm with Birdsall on this but understand your frustrations, Amy. Rethinkings of Petipa can be glorious works of art in and of themselves and the great majority of "Petipa" on view is exactly that - something "AFTER Petipa"...the over-abundance of rice, as Canbelto humorously put it! However...at this stage in life, I prefer to spend my travel $$$ on reconstructions, be they historically "perfect" or partly perfect (eg, correct steps if not the original Tsarist-era designs). Yet, in cases when the ONLY versions of rare Petipa ballets "out there" happen to be intelligent, in-the-manner-of-Petipa rethinkings, as in the case of K. Sergeyev/Dudinskaya's THE SEASONS (Glazunov), or Lacotte's ONDINE or PHARAOH's DAUGHTER, then I'm all in! Thank goodness that we have those works, with complete music and luxurious 19th-C-style designs! And thank goodness for the 1946 Royal Ballet BEAUTY or Konstantin Sergeyev's versions of the classics - long may they live on their own! My main reason for starting this thread is to learn about any upcoming conferences (such as the one in Marseilles), any interesting reconstructions (as in Ekaterinburg and maybe ABT), or any multi-performance Petipa festivals that may happen (not yet but may be coming) during 2018. In just a couple of days, valuable info has come to light. Keep it coming!